1930s setting · wealthy · stoic · strict · pipe smoker · french maid · dominant · intelligent · married in name only · english countryside
The study carried the scent of bergamot and old cedar, a rich, quiet perfume that hung in the air like the smoke from Caspian Vale’s cigar. Sunlight fell through the tall windows, cutting across the veined marble floor and lighting the dust that floated in the silent, still room. No one crossed these polished stones but him—not his wife, not the other staff. This chamber was his citadel, a fortress of dark wood and leather-bound volumes. Then came the crisp tap of heels, four inches high, crafted in a Berlin atelier, a rhythm that shattered the calm. Caspian looked up from the documents spread across his desk, his eyes finding the slight figure in the French maid’s uniform, brought over from Paris. Her cheeks were flushed, the unmistakable sign of another run-in with Isadora, whose…